So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye....

Its quote ironic that my previous post way back in 2012 was called we are still here as after living in our wonderful Nolan 45 for over 3 years we have decided its time to move on and up. We have loved everything about this house, the layout, the light, huge kitchen, wonderful master suite and on and on I could go. But due to our location it lacks on thing and that is a view. Since building work is complete on the surrounding blocks we feel slightly hemmed in and began talking about moving around 6 months ago. First we tested the waters by going to opens in our local area as we love our suburb and the school of son goes to so didn't want to look at leaving the area.

We decided it would be a good investment to move a rung up the property ladder and buy something more expensive while the housing market is flat.
Now while we had seen some lovely homes none of then held a candle to our beautifully designed and planned for our family Metricon Nolan.

In early November we viewed a large older style home on a very big block and decided it would be something we could renovate and possible sub-divide at a later date. However, there was intense interest and we learn we had been pipped to the post by about $25,000. Money we simply couldn't raise as we were not only at the top of our budget but past it.

Funny how things turn out though, the next day our real estate agent rang to tell us a contract had fallen through on a house she felt would suit us perfectly. Excited we tee'd up a view for later in the week. 

Well we weren't to be disappointed, it's not often I walk into a house and find myself saying 'wow'. But this house wowed me, from the huge expansive living ares, 4 car garage and master suite the size of a small apartment I was impressed. the add to that the piece de resistance - a river view!

And the rest is history - offer made and accepted and our Nolan on the market and sold within a matter of days. People just know a well built and well designed home when they see one.

So its a frenzy of packing and we move in less than 3 weeks.
Are we sad to be going - we'd be lying if we said no but it is time for the next adventure and project and to have room for our family and friends as our son grows.

So as a final farewell here are some photos of our home....

We Are Still Here

It has been around 10 months since we moved in and we have been busy with life, work, school and family. The house is now feeling more homely as we continue to put our own stamp on it. We have had some custom made entertainment units installed in the family and leisure rooms and storage cupboards built and installed in the garage so we now have somewhere to put coats and shoes and all those other garage odds and ends that you never have space for.
We have even started buying decorative pieces which really add character and express who we are thus making this our space. Still however we are struggling to decide on art works and have vast amounts of bare blank wall space staring back at us but its not too bland as we have some lovely views out of our up sized windows and bifold doors.
We have a brilliant veggie garden and have begun harvesting salad leaves, herbs and this week broccolini - loving having a garden big enough to give is the space to do this. Soon we will have French beans, tomatoes, cabbages, carrots and beetroot. Yummy. With sweetcorn, broad beans, capsicums and egg plants to follow assuming they all grow successfully.

The build directly behind us has started (and stopped for now) they have had the slab poured and then nothing has happened since. Sadly they are building about 2 meters off our rear fence so our lovely views out to the gum trees and I suspect lots of our natural light from the early morning sun will soon be blocked. Look we knew it would happen one day but after living here for so long with an empty lot behind you just kind of get used to it.

Next door had handover last week but are yet to have their drive done so not sure when they will be moving in. I think it is the slowest Metricon build I have witnessed so far having said that though there is a house on the estate that was started about a month after ours and it still isn't finished!

Are we still happy with our home? Yes we love it and can see ourselves living here for many, many years to come.

Photos to follow......

Its Been A Year

One year has passed since the diggers came and did our site scrape ready for construction of the lovely home we have now been living in for over 6 months. Time goes by so quickly. So to those of you caught up in all the stress of building your new home - hold on in there it will all soon be a dim and distant memory and hopefully you'll be as happy and satisfied with the end results as we have been.

Updates

The painter has been and do the first coat to cover up the touch ups to the damaged plastering as part of the service and maintenance. The plumber is still to come out and hopefully the painter will be back to do the second coat as the walls are quite patchy.
Our electrician has been and put heater lights in both bathrooms which we are really enjoying now that Brisbane is having a mini cold snap. Look in know you guys down south don't think that 1 degree overnight is that cold but for us in is like being in the Antarctic.

Much excitement this week as the cubby house and shed are going to put together and the soil and chook poop is coming for the raised vegetable beds. The garden is almost complete. Scored a great 12v electrical ride on car on EBay for my son so I guess he'll be out driving around or in his cubby from now on - oh the peace and quiet - erm hang on his going to have the coolest play area ever and that means all the kids in the estate are going to want to hang out here too!

The cabinet maker has been out to measure up and quote for some entertainment units and storage and thankfully the price was less than anticipated so there should be just enough left in the budget to get this made up. Oh no that means we have to choose finishes and colours again. It will be worth it and I will most definitely post photos once its all done.

We are getting towards the end of our post build phase so I think this blog will naturally be reaching its conclusion soon, however I must say I have really enjoyed doing my posts and its great to look back at progress. Hard to believe that where there are now houses was bushland and empty fields less than a year ago.

Touch Ups

The painter will be coming on Monday to do some touch ups and repaint the wall by the stairs which had to be reskimmed due it it having some pretty poor plastering finishes, namely big gouges and dents that looked like someone had hit the wall with their suitcase, then dragged it down the whole flight of stairs and just to top it off went back and randomly hit it the gyprock with a nail over and over. It'll be good to get that done as it looks quite messy at present.
We are still waiting to hear from the plumber to sort out the lack of flush toilet and then all our service and maintenance issue will be complete - oh that's if we ignore the retaining wall between us and next door which wont be done until their build is nearer completion.

More houses are being started on our little 36 lots estate with a couple of new site scrapes and some swimming pool holes being done. As for who is building with who it looks like the score is now Merticon 12 Plantation Homes 8 McCarthy 3 Others 5.

We got our first proper electricity bill this week for approx $550 for the quarter Jan - Apr.thankfully we got $85 credit from our solar so this brought the bill down to $465. Now seeing as we haven't had to pay any bills on a big for almost 12 months we can't remember if this seems average, reasonable or expensive... any comments?

Service and Maintenance Visit

The nice man from the service and maintenance dept came to pay a visit yesterday with our list of minor issues in hand. We expected he'd just have a look then organise the tradies to come out to do what was needed but much to our surprise he attended to all the jobs himself right there and then! He had everything he needed in his van and was very helpful pointing things out and explaining why we were having issues with things like sliding doors sticking and so on. How's that for service?
The only outstanding work now is that the painters need to come to attend to some touch ups and totally repaint the wall going up the stairs which had such a poor plaster finish that it has almost had to be completely reskimmed as it was full of gouges and dents. Oh and the plumber has to come out to see why the main WC toilet doesn't flush completely. So  for a score out of 10 we give service and maintenance a 9 so far. Well done Metricon Qld!

A Few Photos

That Land Drain Doesn't Work Then

Where's The Ark?

Veggie Patch or Duck Pond?

Pumping Out The Downfall Again!

The Yard In Progress

From Another Angle

There's Going To Be A Shed There So Can You Shift Your Tools

Drainage! And It Works

Stepping Stones

And Its Finishes

Front Yard - We Will Plant Mini Black Mondos Between Paving

Closer View

Angel Appreciating The New Garden

Finally A Washing Line

Well it's only taken 6 months but finally we have installed a washing line in the yard outside the laundry door. Yippee, no more having to dry clothes in batches on the airer, using the tumble drier or carting loads of laundry up to the business and hanging out on the line there. It feels like we have put our final stamp on the house to say yes we actually have moved in and really live here!

The Service team from Metricon are coming to visit on Friday to have a look at the jobs that need attention. I have no idea if they plan to do them on the day or if they are just inspecting as when they called they did ask whether we had any spare paint. They have followed up fairly swiftly as the deadline for having the paperwork in was the 4th.

We've been having a few cold mornings (well cold for Brisbane) recently and I am loving how due to the aspect of the house that as the morning sun comes up it streams right into the outdoor room and through the bi-folds to warm the kitchen and family rooms. Perfect. It also means that you can sit outdoors and toast yourself in the sun whilst a cup of tea and reading a good book. I love it!

Lovely long weekend in Brisbane with perfect glorious sunny days. We have spent time hanging out together, walking the dog, playing at the local park, having BBQs, relaxing in the outdoor room, basking in the sun and enjoying my new car.
Yes we have broken all the new home owner rules and bought cars, had overseas holidays and spent money that could have gone to paying our mortgage down. BUT... as I pointed out to the accountant we are in our early 40's not 80's and we want to enjoy life and have some FUN. There's time to concentrate on the mortgage now that we have those things out the way.

I will be updating photos in a new post soon

6 Month Service and Maintenance

The paperwork has come from Metricon for us to note down any problems or issues with the house as it has been almost 6 months since we did handover (I can't believe how quick the time has flashed by and yet it seems like we have always lived here). Fortunately for us any concerns we have are very minor like the flushes on the toilets being the wrong way around i.e the big button gives the half flush, a ceiling fan that makes clicking noises and few other little things. We dutifully filled out the forms faxed and posted them back so now we wait to see what happens next.

Overall score for our new house almost 10/10 the only thing I would change is to make the actual WC spaces slightly larger as they are a tiny bit claustrophobic if you are not feeling well (if you get my drift). Otherwise it is quite perfect and the space and rooms work really well for us as a family. I wonder if that will still be the case as our son gets older and the dog gets bigger (not that she is going to be huge!).

Surprisingly this week I got an email from Metricons social media people asking me to remove the detailed plans we have posted on the blog as we are in breach of their copyright policy as they do not want other builders to be able to copy or duplicate anything from their drawings. Fair point so I am about to remove the pictures form the blog as requested. Shame as they really do help prospective would be customers with M to have some great ideas about altering the space and the electrical plans are a work of art and a lot of effort went in to organising and deciding where we would put switches and sockets etc. Which may I say was well worth it as it seems like we got it 95% right.

Oh well better find those posts with the plans on......

Paving and Pebbles

The hard landscaping is almost completed, we now have stepping stones, paving and pebbles around the front of the house and around the side from the front to the pool area. All that needs to be finished off is some soil and mulch and the garden is finished - well almost as once the landscaping team is done we will need to get some more plants put in and make a start on the vegetable garden, oh and order the shed. Then when we have the money we will look at getting some feature pots and possible water feature for out the front of the house to give it a bit more wow factor and street appeal.
The long awaited cubby house should also be arriving sometime this week so hopefully we can get our carpenter friend to put it together for us.

Now For The Hard Stuff

At last the hard landscaping has commenced with the formation of a concrete slab for the shed and concrete pads/steps out from the rear garage door and laundry. The land levels have been lowered and recontoured to allow for better run off into the new drains ahead of laying pavers and and covering with gravel. Now that the slabs are down it makes the remaining areas of garden to complete seem much smaller and more manageable, which is a good thing as we do in fact have quite a large area to maintain.I'm looking forward to the shed arriving so that we can move all that stuff that you don't have a home for out from the garage which will make it easier to get the cars in and out. This will  probably be the final work that we are having done on the house for a while as we have now come to the end of our house build budget and need to start saving again to be able to get some built in cabinets and storage made. Luckily we have enough furniture and bits and pieces to make do with for now so we don't feel like it is a big deal to be putting things on hold.

We now have neighbours in the Plantation home next door and the brick work has started on the Metricon on the other side. It's strange having people around and it's sending the dog crazy, good to know that she is protective and will bark if someone is about though.

Metricon have opened a new display at Rochedale so we might pop over later today to see what they have done and get more interior design and furnishing ideas.

Connected

Energex came and switched the solar on this week so we should be generating some of our own power now its all connected up to the grid. All we need is a few sunny days so we can really reap the benefits and claw back what we have paid to have the system installed. Finger crossed we can generate more electricity than we use so we can sell the surplus back to the electricity company.

We also had the roofers come and replace all the broken tiles and recheck the roof so hopefully everything is water tight and leak proof again.

The cost of the hard landscaping has been renegotiated and we have booked them to start as soon as possible as we are very keen to get the garden finished and have a shed so we can move all the stuff for the garden out of the garage to free up some space. We are having paving and gravel with concrete steps out of the laundry and garage.We have gone for a dark paver and light gravel which hopefully compliments the house and the rest of the colour schemes.

Next door on the left, as you face our house, picked up their keys today and are moving in a week once they have had the flooring done. Our other neighbours build has ground to a halt this week due to bad weather but they did get their bricks delivered - as far as I can tell they have gone for the austral zinc which is quite a dark almost black colour. Should look good.

Looking forward to a lovely weekend catching up with friends and family and taking the dog to her first obedience class.

No More Ponds?

The drains are in, all 4 have been positioned exactly as requested and they have done a neat job. All we need now is a heavy downpour so we can see if they have made a difference and whether we will get big ponds of water despite our efforts to prevent them. The land levels will need adjusting so that they fall towards the drains and perhaps a couple of ag pipes wouldn't go a miss either. The hard landscaping can commence now but we are after another quote first as the one we have does seem very expensive and I'd like to have something to compare it to. Pavers and concrete don't come cheap I know but even so I'd just like to double check first before committing another $15k of our hard earned cash.

Next door the build on the left as we look at our house looks ready for handover, their driveway is done and the temporary fencing is down and they have had their pool shell poured so we will be getting new neighbours very soon. The house on the right has been blue wrapped and their air con is being installed, wonder when the bricks will be delivered?
On the estate several houses have been completed in the last few weeks and now have families living in them plus 2 new builds have commenced. We still love watching the builds and seeing peoples homes take shape. The 2 most popular builders here are Metricon and Plantation Homes so its a nice mix of modern homes, mainly 2 storey houses that sit on the entire block leaving just enough room for a small garden and a titchy pool. Glad we opted for a larger block of land as I love that our garden has lots of run for the boy and his dog to play and go wild.

Drained

The plumber hopefully came yesterday (Friday) and installed the 4 additional land drains as recommended by Metricons building manager. We won't know for definite if its been done until we get home as we are away in Vietnam for our annual pilgrimage/family hoilday to one of our favorite places ever the beautiful town of Hoi An.

Metricon also supplied us with some spare roof tiles but they only had 6 so we have ordered 30 from a local tile supplier along with some ridge capping tiles so if any tiles need replacing over the lifespan of the house we will have some in stock. Boral are reducing their production in Qld hence why they have discontinued the linea tiles perfect timing Boral seeing as we only completed our house 4 months ago! Better we found out now while we could still get hold of some rather than in a few years time when stocks had been exhausted.

As for the solar we are waiting for Energex to do their bit now that all the paperwork has been completed which could take up to 40 days. My mom has had her 1.5Kw system for a year now and has accrued a nice amount of credit and it looks like her system will take around 2 years to pay for itself. Lets hope ours will have the same productivity.

Our next project will be to get the hard landscaping finished, get a shed and commence our vegetable garden - assuming the drainage issues have been sorted that is.....

Solar and Cracked Up

The boys from FreeSolar were up on the roof for most of yesterday in the blazing sun installing the solar panels for our 3kw solar system. From what I can see on the ground they have done a neat job. The inverter has been positioned over the electricity meter box so as to keep thinks looking tidy as we didn't want a random box just anywhere with loads of conduit running here there and everywhere. A few roof tiles paid the price during the fitting and apparently there were 3 broken ones up there anyway. So the asked if we had some spare tiles to replace the damaged ones - well the answer to that would be NO as Metricon didn't leave us any. Oh hang on I'm not being fair there - yes they did lave us some but....... they were all smashed so they went in the bin. Quick call to a couple of tile stockist who told us they'd need to order them in, followed by a call to Boral who told us that our tiles have been, wait for it wait for it, DISCONTINUED. Shock faint horror! You build a new house, have no spare roof tiles and the ones your builder used are discontinued. What to do now. Phone Metricon explain the situation and now they have promised to see if they have any that they can bring over, I reminded them we are still under our 6 month service and maintenance period so they better come up with the goods. In the meantime we have ordered 30 tiles from the supplier as there is stock but no more being made. That'll cost us around $175 (might send M the bill and see what happens ha ha).
The solar guys have moved all the broken tiles to the front row of the garage and sealed them up with silicone for now so if it does rain heavily before the replacement ones arrive and we get a leak it will be over the garage and not into the main body of the house. Also it will make it easier to swap them out.

Oh now I come to think of it we better order some ridge cap tiles too as we plan to live here a long time so don't want to get to the stage where we can't get hold of what we need if something gets cracked or dislodged.

The solar is all installed and on but we are not yet connected or is it producing electricity until Energex do their bit whenever that will be. Sorry to be so vague but I had some much other stuff happening yesterday that I didn't fully take it all in. I'll have to give FreeSolar a call and double check the facts.

Sometimes you can be generating power but not yet selling it back to the electricity provider and when that happens it actually makes you meter run backwards so your bill is smaller but you aren't getting the extra credits yet - not sure if that is true or whether the solar fitters were pulling my leg and having a joke at my expense. Time to do some research.

Metricon Visits

Finally after a couple of increasingly more urgent and slightly more irate emails to the service and maintenance dept at M the Qld Building Manager paid us a visit this morning to assess the drainage (or lack of) issues.
After listening to our concerns, looking at the photos of a water logged yard and examining the site he agreed that we actually need 4 more gully/land drains and a retaining wall between us and out right handside neighbours (who are at frame stage now with M). The retaining wall was originally included in the building plans but was never constructed so M will install this at no cost after discussing the potential land levels with the site supervisor to assess how high it needs to be. As for the land drains Metricon's plumber will come and do these for us and Metricon have agreed to split the cost 50-50. We felt this to be a fair arrangement as if the engineer had recommended additional drainage in the first place we would have had to pay for it all anyway and if we hadn't got M involved we would have also had to foot the bill. Hopefully the plumber can come and do the drains for us the week after next and then at last we can finish the landscaping.

The moral of this story is always get the builder to come out and look at potential issues, stay calm and be reasonable, state your case clearly and tell them how you would like to see matters resloved and then hopefully you get a win win situation.

100 Days

Its been 100 days since we got the keys to the new house. On one hand the time has gone by really fast and on the other it feels like we have always lived here as we have settled in very quickly and have been busy making the Nolan 45 our home. We still need to add some interior design bits and pieces and put pictures up on walls but we are in no hurry to finish everything off and have it looking like the lovely show homes that Metricon display. However a few more personal touches wouldn't go a miss. The garden is maturing and once we get some feedback about the drainage issues it will be nice to finish it off and get the shed in.

Inside we have noticed some small cracks appearing at the architrave joins, one of the plug socket covers has come loose and falls off every time you use it, the powder room toilet half and full flush are the wrong way round so you get full flush when you use the half button, one of the cavity sliders on the ensuite is stiff and there is a chipped door that we picked up at handover that wasn't touched up. Otherwise the house is working beautifully.

The weather is fabulous so we will celebrate out 100 days splashing about in the pool

Metricon Have Gone Deaf

Apparently the plumber was coming out on site Monday. Never saw him which is odd seeing as we specifically stated we wanted a meeting to discuss the issues and show him the photos of where and how the water is pooling around the house. I also asked M why a retaining wall next to the garage along the boundary has been omitted from construction, it is clearly marked on our plans and in our contract. We feel this 325mm high retaining wall would have helped deflect some of the water run off from the adjacent block and we have paid for the wall as part of site fees. So far it has all fallen on deaf ears so now its time for an annoyed phone call......

Next door now have a steel frame up they completed the ground floor yesterday and it all ready looks massive. Once the upstairs is on the little Soho at the back of us is going to be totally dwarfed. There have been two more site scrapes, a low set is going in across the way which means we will still be able to see some lovely tress over the tops yippee and up the road they are having what appears to be a traditional Queenslander up on stumps, might look a little out of place amongst all the modern rendered houses.

Breakfast first then on the phone to Metricon, the problem though is who is the best person to speak to as service and maintenance don't seem interested and we no longer officially have a site or construction manager?

Metricon Listens!

When I arrived home Friday afternoon there were two guys installing a sediment barrier between next door's build site and our fence. How is that for service? I contacted Metricon via email the previous morning about the drainage issues and the silt/mud run off from the lot and viola they put the sediment barrier up the very next day. I spoke with the guys and they told me they were only putting along the left side (which is ours) as they had been told to come and do it urgently. So its not all bad news and lack of service out of Ms head office in Qld. I can't help but wonder though if they'd have been as quick getting on to it had I not just completed building with them?
Lets see what happens once the plumber has been out and given them his report regarding the drains!

Great weekend, we've just bought a new car (a Peugeot 3008) and it looks like I have found a new staff member to join my team. Awesome

Drainage Dramas

We had a 30 minute heavy downpour Wednesday afternoon which lead to us being flooded again. To add to this we now have silt and mud washing off the metricon block next door which blocked one of our piddly surface drains so we had almost knee deep water around the side of the garage, Why they have not put up an erosion barrier along the side of the fence I don't know as our other neighbour at the rear had mud all over their outdoor room from the wash of as well.
I have raised the issue with M to be emailed that a plumber will come and have a look. I replied asking what's a plumber going to do? as the issue here is a lack of drainage and not a blocked pipe. We need someone to explain why we only have 3 surface drains and why they have been placed around the garage and no where else on the block so I have asked for someone higher up. If I get no joy I will have to call the CM we had for the build or see if I can actually speak to someone with more authority.
We're a bit peed off now with having to pump water, clean up mud, replace washed away mulch and empty mud from next door from the drain.
Come on M lets sort this out please before the integrity of our new house gets compromised.